During the debate, an amendment was offered by Tea Party Republican Representative Mark Keogh (HD15 – Woodlands) to withhold funding for vulnerable children placed with relatives who were undocumented. The amendment would have instead forced foster care children to be left with strangers or taken to overcrowded CPS facilities. The political purpose of the amendment was unmistakable: it was an opportunity for Republicans to throw anti-Hispanic red meat to activist extremists who now control Republican Party primaries in Texas.

Representative Anchia did not let the moment pass unchallenged. He rose to oppose the amendment and called out House Republican members for using a debate on how to save the lives of vulnerable Texas children in order to feed the racist views held by many within the Republican Party.

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